The Dragon Warriors
by NinjaofLightning
Summary: After the defeat of the Golden Master by Zane, the Ninja are celebrated as heroes in Ninjago while they mourn the loss of the Ice Ninja. Meanwhile, a new threat, seeing Ninjago as weak from the Nindroid invasion, attacks. With the team already divided over Nya's choice, they have a little chance of stopping their enemy from destroying Ninjago.
1. One

**Hello, ninjas and kunoichi (is that the plural? Leave a review for the correct plural if you know it), it's Jay! (Not the Master of Spinjitzu, unfortunately.) People said that I should write more, so I decided I would follow up on _Just for a Few Moments_. I didn't add chapters to that story because I wanted it to be able to be viewed as a one-shot as well as a prologue or chapter one to this tale. **

**So anyway, this begins right after _Just for a Few Moments, _then jumps straight to after the Overlord's demise in the next chapter. **

**Enjoy this first chapter! (Or second, depending...) **

* * *

At first Nya didn't know where she was. The room around her was unfamiliar, the bed she was laying in, and the arms wrapped around her as well. For a moment, she was wide-eyed, but then she remembered.

_Jay. _

She had found him in the ninja's room, tearing up over her. Nya winced once more at that thought. She didn't want to the be a cause for any heartache or trouble to anyone. Especially her favorite ninja. So she had decided to be with him, just for a little while. She supposed that they must have fallen asleep.

Nya smiled and pressed her head into the blue ninja's shoulder. "Good morning," she murmured, closing her eyes. She felt his lips press into her head.

"Good morning," he replied softly. "I guess we fell asleep."

"Yeah," Nya sighed happily. "I don't mind."

_I mean that, don't I? _

Nya wound her arms around his neck and opened her eyes. His loving blue ones were locked with her own. Jay smiled and hugged her tightly.

_Yes, I do. Cole is a crush, and I have feelings for him, but Jay is the one I want by my side forever. I've made my choice. _

"Where are the others?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I don't know," Jay said, shrugging while running a hand through his hair. "I don't think they came in here."

"I'm glad they didn't," she admitted. "It's nice in here, without those three. Just you, and me..." She saw Jay grin widely.

"Really?" He seemed stunned, but he was happy. And so was she.

"Really." She pulled him closer and kissed him. He blinked a few times before responding, and they held it for a minute, before the two of them broke away.

"What time is it?" he said, glancing around the room. She sat up, one hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever," she said. "I just hope we aren't late for anything."

"I don't think so. I mean, the sun isn't to high in the sky, so it's still morning," the blue ninja reasoned, slipping out of the covers that he had pulled over them last night. "I'm hungry."

"So am I," Nya replied as he stepped away from the bed and began straightening his blue ninja robes. The lightning patterns flashed gold-and-silver as the light hit them.

"Since we're the first ones up, we can make breakfast," he said, reaching a hand to help her up. She took it and got to her feet. Nya glanced down at her clothes: the red fabric was wrinkled from not changing out of them, but otherwise, they were fine.

"Let's get washed up a little, then go," she decided, walking towards the door. He nodded.

"Just meet in the kitchen!" he reminded her brightly. She laughed.

"I will."

Nya quickly straightened out her clothes and brushed her teeth, then slipped out of her room and into the hallway that led into the kitchen. Before she continued on through the belowdecks of the _Destiny's Bounty_, she poked her head into the ninja's room. It was deserted, no signs of life besides the ruffled sheets and pillows on Jay's bed.

_Good, _Nya thought, sighing with relief. _No one else was there. _Not that she didn't want to be seen with Jay. In fact, she would love to show the other guys that she was back together with her ninja. It was just slightly embarrassing for the three of them walking in on them in bed together. They hadn't... _done_ anything, just lied there together, but it was still rather hard to explain if anyone wanted to ask. She shook her head and focused. Jay seemed to have left already for the kitchen. Nya smiled and left the room to find her boyfriend.

She found him humming a nice tune while pouring flour and milk into a mixing bowl. She looked around the room and saw two containers of chocolate chips and blueberries.

_Chocolate blueberry pancakes. Perfect. _She loved when Jay cooked breakfast; it was always a pancake or something similar, topped with syrup and berries. When he didn't have syrup, it was chocolate sauce. It was certainly better than Cole's meals.

_Oh, Cole. I have to explain this to him. _It would have to be in private, away from the others. She had to end this matter quickly and quietly if she wanted things to get back to normal as soon as they could. She wasn't looking forward to it, at all... She banished the thought and focused on _now_.

"Looks good!" Nya said, coming in to sit down at the counter. Jay turned towards her, his eyes bright for the first time since he had found out about the whole perfect match thing. It was refreshing to see him happy again.

"Yeah. I wanted to make something nice for today," he told her, taking a long wooden spoon to start mixing the ingredients together to make batter.

"I love your pancakes," she told him, handing him some sugar to add to the mix. All of the guys liked their food sweet.

"Oh, this time I'm not making pancakes," he told her, grinning. Nya raised and eyebrow.

"Then why are you making pancake batter?"

"Because," he said. "I'm making..." He stirred up the mix one last time. He then turned to the island in the center to pull a round appliance from a corner. "Waffles!"

"Waffles?" She laughed. "Not the normal Jay Special Pancakes?"

"I wanted to try out something different this time," he explained. "Ooh! Or I could make funnel cakes for all of us. All I need is some oil, put it in a pan or something, then pour in the batter..." He looked away dreamily. "I haven't had a funnel cake for a while."

"Make it for dessert," Nya told him, her smile widening. "You've made me hungry for waffles."

"Alright, then." Jay began humming again as he used a spatula to pour the homemade mixture from the bowl into the waffle iron.

"Hey, can you find the others and get them up?" he asked, closing the iron on the first waffle slowly. "Waffles are only good when warm. I they ain't up they'll complain about missing breakfast."

"Sure," she said, standing up. She pushed the stool she had been sitting on to one side and left the room.

Nya looked in each room down the hall before reaching the room past her own: the game room. Rolling her eyes, she opened the wooden door. It swung with a creak inwards, and revealed the messiest room she'd ever seen.

Kai, Cole, and Zane were sprawled over the couches and beanbag chairs, blankets all over the floor and pizza scattered across the room. There was a soda spill in front of the TV, and the theme from _Fist to Face 2_ was blaring through the speakers, with the images of ninja beating up skeletons pulsing on the screen. The walls were sticky with soda, and wads of rolled up paper were stuck to the walls with dried chewing gum.

"Thank Heaven for soundproofing," she muttered, before making her way through the mess, stepping over pizza boxes and pillows to reach the TV. She nearly tripped on the spilled cup of root bear. Getting and idea, she picked it up, scowling at the dripping brown liquid, then threw it at Kai. Her brother was laying on his stomach on a sofa, his hair more messy that usual, and the game remote hanging from his fingers. When the soft drink cup smashed into his face, spilling the remaining contents all over his face he shot to his feet, eyes wide.

"Sensei?" he exclaimed before seeing Nya switching off the television. "Oh. Nya. What was that for?"

"What?" Zane got to his feet from the beanbag chair he was slouched on, a piece of pizza in his hands. "Oh, hello. Why have you awakened us?"

"Jay's making waffles," she told them. "He wants me to get you lazy gamers up."

"Waffles? Jay's making waffles?" Cole gasped, shooting up from the floor. "Woohoo! I love waffles. Oh, hi Nya." He gave her a big grin, and she smiled awkwardly back.

"We were going to invite Jay to our game night," Zane said, flipping the panel on his chest open to flick a switch that said _Party_ towards the off side. "But Kai said he was busy."

"Yeah, what was Jay doing? He never misses a chance to play _Fist to Face 2_. Especially when Sensei Wu isn't here to tell us to stop," Cole noted, straightening his hair. Nya flashed a glare at Kai.

_Don't. Say. A. Word. _Her brother caught the message and nodded slightly.

"I guess he was sleeping," the red ninja guessed.

"Well, he missed out!" Cole said. "Let's get down there for some waffles!"

Nya walked out of the room and stood by the door as Cole and Zane left. As soon as they were down the hall, Kai walked out, and Nya jumped in alongside him.

"Thanks," she said once the others were in earshot. Kai shrugged.

"You looked like you needed it at dinner. And Jay's really been down."

"I'm choosing him," Nya blurted out. She had to tell someone, and if she couldn't trust Kai, then she could trust no one. "Jay, I mean. Cole is a good guy and all that, but I want Jay to be with me."

"At least you figured this out," Kai told her. "Seeing those two fight is really bad for the team."

"Do you think Cole will be fine?" she asked, frowning. Kai rolled his eyes.

"Cole has a lot of options, Nya. Don't you see the way girls look at him when we're out in the city?"

"Er... no?"

"Well, he has fangirls. And so does Zane. And," He smiled smugly. "I do too." Nya giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. It was so unlike her to do so, but it was so funny to think of. "What?" he protested. "I do!"

"You," she said slowly, regaining her composure. "Having fangirls?"

"Yes!"

"That's so weird!"

"Oh, come on! No it's not!"

"Kai," Nya sighed, shaking her head. "Grow up."

"Wha...?" Kai stopped, dumbfounded, as Nya smirked and walked ahead, into the dining room. She took her normal seat, vacated for the time being because of Kai, as Jay set a plate down in front of everyone.

"Jay," Cole said, drowning his meal in chocolate sauce. "I love it when you make waffles!"

"Thanks," the blue ninja said, taking his place across from Nya to eat his own meal. She gave him a small smile before tucking into her breakfast.

* * *

**Okay, how do you like it? Leave a review whether your did, didn't, or constructive criticisms! The threat and the problem begins in the next chapter, which I'll have up ASAP. **

**Thanks! **

**Jay.**


	2. Two

**Okay, now we're at a few days after the Overlord's defeat by Zane. As many of you know, Zane "dies". (I saw the episodes in really bad quality on Youtube). But yeah. Spoilers for that. The Ninja don't yet know that he's alive in the computers of Borg Tower. **

**So, enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite-d, and followed this thing. It's really appreciated. I think I'll do some individual responses to reviews in the next chapter :D**

* * *

Weeks later, Kai sat in the central park of Ninjago city, hanging his head. He was alone on the bench in front of the Titanium Ninja statue. As usual, the falcon was perched on it's shoulder, looking into the distance.

Probably at the rebuilding. After the destruction of New Ninjago City, Cyrus Borg was leading the construction process to recreate the city, combing technology with the ways of the past. The first and hardest challenge was getting the buildings in place; the Overlord had used many to create his fortress. Cole and Jay were there with Nya, helping out, while Sensei Wu and Lloyd went to check out the villages outside of the city; they would have been affected by the attack of the Golden Master. Garmadon had gone back to monastery with Misako.

Kai sighed; everything was different without Zane. The white ninja should have been there, helping out with recreating the city. But he was gone, and they couldn't do anything about it. Nothing. He felt like a horrible friend, a horrible brother, for not doing what he could to bring the white ninja back.

But Zane was gone. Nothing could be done.

* * *

Jay let out a sigh of frustration as his Thunder Raider tank – the one he had hacked on the night of the Overlord's return – got stuck in a pothole. Again.

"You alright, Jay?" Nya asked over the comlinks. She was above him, in her Samurai X suit.

"Yeah. Pothole," he told her, scratching the back of his head. A grunt from Cole interrupted Nya as she began to reply.

"Hey, at least we're nearly finished with this building! Then we can take a break and go around the city."

_Who's 'we', dirtbag? _Jay thought, gritting his teeth. Ever since his night with Nya he had been very, very fed up with Cole trying to take his girlfriend. He was especially annoyed with the fact that when the Golden Master had been defeated and they had found what was left of Zane, half of his face, she had run into his leader's arms. When he had been standing there. That had only added to his grief: first, he lost his brother. Then, his girlfriend went to another guy – his other brother – for comfort. She didn't seem at all interested in Cole now, though; they had spent a little time talking and he had even started to consider asking her out on a date.

But he was still unsure of it; on that night she had stayed with him, she seemed like she was choosing him; but he couldn't be certain. At all. And why had she been so hesitant when they asked who she was choosing after they saw the movie?

_Don't think about it. I'll just ask her once we're done. If she accepts, then maybe we're together again. Otherwise... _

"Yeah, but there's still so much work to do," Nya sighed. Jay revved his vehicle's engines again and reversed. The cable attached from the top of the Raider to the skyscraper they were trying to drag back in to place after the Overlord had shifted it's position to make the fortress wall strained with a loud groaning.

"Hey? Mind if anyone helps me get out of this hole?" he asked when the treads wouldn't budge. They just kicked up mud and gravel into the air and onto the roads.

"Yeah, sure buddy," Cole replied cheerfully as he detached his mech from the building and hopped over to him.

"Hey, don't be too - " Jay was cut off by a shout of surprise as Cole bent down and lifted the tank up into the air, took a few steps back and out of the hole, then set it down with a _THUMP. _The Lightning ninja inside was bounced up, banging his head against the cockpit. Nya giggled over the comlink, and Jay rubbed his auburn head, glaring at Cole.

"You could have been at least a little gentle," he said scathingly.

"Sorry," Cole said, without much of a "sorry" tone. "That's just the way the cookie crumbles."

"Funny, that's just what you said when you said to _leave Nya on the Dark Island with the Overlord_," Jay hissed. Static crackled.

"What?" Nya asked, sounding more accusing than curious. He hoped she didn't see the little triumphant smirk that danced across his face as his words sank in.

"Er, nothing," Cole responded quickly. "Lets just, uh, get on to fixing this building."

There was little chatter after Jay said that. He could sense the questioning radiating from his girlfriend as they worked.

_Well, it was true. He did say that. And I did nearly kill him, _Jay reasoned as the skyscraper – an office tower by the looks of it – rumbled across the ground.

"Almost... done..." Nya muttered.

"And... finished!" Cole announced, having gotten over his skittishness over the topic of leaving Nya behind. The tall structure slid into the original place in the city with a resounding boom.

"Whew," Jay said, pressing button on the control panel of the Thunder Raider to open the cockpit. He hopped out. "Glad that's done." Nya landed in her towering red-and-gold mech with a whirring of engines, and she leaped out and onto the ground.

"Yeah," she murmured. Taking off her helmet. Sweat was glistening on her brow, and she moved her hand to wipe it off. "Well, now I have to find Kai and then..."

_Now or never, Jay. You can do this. _

"Hey, Nya," He began, walking up to her with his hands clasped behind his back nervously. "So, I was wondering, if, um, you wanted to go walk around town later this evening!" he blurted out, not thinking of his words. "And then maybe we could go get some dinner somewhere..." Kai's sister blushed at the invitation.

_Come on, come on, accept! _He was desperate for her to say yes. If she refused, he'd be crushed, and might be a sign she preferred Cole to him.

"Sure! I mean – where? Here?" she asked, her cheeks getting redder. Jay laughed nervously.

"Maybe Jamanakai village! It never got attacked, and I know you love it there!" She had told him that on one of the moments they had shared together on the Bounty. But none were as great as...

"Oh, yeah!" she said brightly. "Six o'clock tonight? I'm free..."

"Yeah!" Jay almost yelped with excitement. "See you then!"

Nya walked over to him, gave him a very brief hug, then turned and headed towards the park to find her brother. As soon as she was out of earshot. He began doing his victory dance, smiling hugely as he danced across the rocky ground.

"Oh, yeah, you did it, oh yeah, you asked her," he sang, flashing his gaze towards Cole. The Earth ninja was still in the mech, staring up at the building he had just moved. He didn't seem to have noticed Jay's invitation to Nya.

_Well, Cole, all you love is cake. I love Nya. Ha ha. _

* * *

A few hours later, the Jay was in front of the mirror in their quarters on the _Destiny's Bounty_, brushing his hair as he leaned against the dresser, humming. "Lookin' good, Jay," he said quietly to himself, grinning. He patted down his orange-ish hair, then rubbed some lotion on his face; the days were hot and dry, and so was his skin most of the time from working on rebuilding.

"Gotta look good," he told himself. "Gotta make a good impression."

The door swung open behind them, and Jay jumped around, startled; he bet it would be Cole; but it wasn't. Lloyd walked in, grinning.

"Just got a call from my dad," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "He said the girls at his monastery are really wanting to see me." He looked the older ninja up and down. "What are you getting all dressed up for?"

"A date with Nya, and I'm not getting 'all dressed up'," Jay told the green ninja, adjusting the sleeves on his jacket; he was wearing a simple blue jacket with a white T-shirt and jeans for this one; they were walking around Jamanakai village, not some fancy restaurant or a dancing date, like they'd done before. He wanted to be casual.

"Oh, you got that whole thing with Cole resolved?" Lloyd said pushing Jay out of the way to brush his hair. "That's cool. By the way, you might see Sensei there. He said he would stay in Jamanakai for a while longer after we finished checking out the villages."

"Er, yeah, I did, and great!" he lied about the matter with Cole, scowling. "Well, see you later! I have to pick up Nya!" He threw the last words over his shoulder as he stepped away from the dresser and out of the room. As he walked down the hall towards Nya's room, he muttered to himself. "It's okay, you can do this, you've taken her to a lot fancier things than a walk, Jay!" He had been dating Nya for almost two years now and he had embarrassed himself a lot of times on those dates. Mostly because of etiquette or personal fears. But this was a casual walk-with-my-girlfriend-in-her-favorite-place kind of thing. It couldn't be hard at all.

But this was very, very nerve-wracking for him, because Jay felt it was the day their relationship would rekindle or...

_Rekindle. Think positive! She most likely likes you! Not Cole! Heh, heh..._

Sweat was making Jay's hands clammy as he forced himself to walk forward towards Nya's door. Shakily, he clenched his fingers into a fist and knocked irregularly on the wooden door.

"H-hey, Nya!" he called after he knocked. "It's Jay, uh, yeah, we're going to Jamanakai village, and er, I'm here..."

The door swung open to reveal Nya in her Samurai X suit, her hair messy from the helmet.

"Oh, hey Jay!" she said, redness creeping into her face. Jay grinned nervously. "Sorry, just got back from a report of some rogue nindroids outside of the city. Turned out to be some birds with black and red feathers."

"Sounds fun," Jay said with sarcasm hinting in his voice. She laughed.

"Yeah, I just wasted and hour and a half for that!" she told him as she removed her armor, which revealed the dress she usually wore. Jay didn't care; she looked amazing.

"You look..."

"Come on, Jay," she giggled, taking his hand. "What are we taking there?"

"Heh heh... I mean, uh, Kai told me that he was taking us down there in his jet," Jay replied nervously. She rolled her eyes.

"Kai is so protective," she muttered.

"He can be an annoying jerk sometimes," Jay sighed.

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause as they headed out on the deck together. As they passed one of the rooms, P.I.X.A.L poked her silver head out, watched them for a few seconds, then retreated inside once more. Beside him, Nya sighed.

"Poor P.I.X.A.L," his girlfriend murmured and pressed a little closer to Jay. "She's lost Zane, and seeing us probably reminds her of him."

"Mmm Hmm," Jay said, having flashbacks of his dead brother. He was glad Zane had found happiness at last, but it had been so close to the end...

"Jay, are you alright? I hope you aren't turning into a snake again..." Nya said, gently poking him in the arm as they walked up the short set of stairs and onto the open deck. The breeze blew their hair to one side; Jay scowled. He had worked for a while to get the hair he wanted for tonight.

"No, I'm fine, really," he assured her. "I'm just thinking about Zane."

"I miss him too," she said softly. "But come on, Kai's over there!" Her voice regained it's cheerfulness from earlier, although it was dampened.

Jay's eyes brightened as they walked hand-in-hand to Kai's flaming red jet, with the red ninja leaning up against the cockpit.

"Okay, rules. Mr. Walker, you get to take my sister out into town. That's it. You can go have dinner and stuff but don't do anything else. Number Two - "

"Kai!" Nya snapped. "You gave us this talk before!" When Jay had taken Nya out on to a dance in the city, Kai had given them a very long lecture on something like "COME HOME STRAIGHT AFTER THE DANCE AND IF I DON'T SEE NYA IN HER BED BY 11:00 PM THIS TEAM IS WITHOUGHT LIGHTNING!" It had been pounded into his head very well.

"Fine. But you know the rules. "IF I DON'T SEE NYA - "

"Calm down, Kai!" Jay sighed. "I know. 11:00 PM sharp. We'll be here by then, I promise!" He hopped into the back of the cockpit that Kai had modified to fit two passengers and one pilot. Nya flipped over the edge and was seated in front of him. Jay slid his hands through a gap between the seat and the fighter and hand her hands. She squeezed his and turned her head to give him a little smile.

"And don't do anything out of line!" Kai told him loudly from the pilot's seat. "Or I kill you."

"Alright, alright!" Jay sighed and gave Nya a kiss on the cheek, just to annoy the Fire Ninja.

"THAT IS OUT OF LINE - "

"Kai, shut up!" Nya slapped her brother upside the head and turned around to give Jay a big kiss on the lips. Jay raised a challenging eyebrow at the Fire ninja as he responded. Kai's face got redder and redder. When the two of them finally pulled away, smoke was literally coming from his ears.

But he didn't say anything, thankfully, and the jet lifted off into the air. Jay made sure his belt was buckled before letting out a whoop as they did a sudden dive into the clouds. Nya laughed and turned around to kiss him once more. When she was finished, he leaned forward and kissed her.

"Stop that!" Kai shouted. "Stop kissing my sister, Jay!"

The reaction from Jay was to simply kiss Nya again.

_Yeah, he is protective... _

After fifteen minutes of antagonizing Kai with their displays of affection, they landed outside of Jamanakai village. The cockpit popped open with a hiss, and Jay flipped out. He reached out his arm to help Nya out, and she took it. When she got out of the jet, she gave the blue ninja a big hug. Kai gritted his teeth.

"Bye," he growled as he closed the cockpit. "11:00 PM! Or..." His words were drowned out by the sound of the jet rising, then shooting off, back towards the _Bounty_. Jay turned to Nya, and took her hand in his. She smiled at him – a real smile, not just one to annoy her brother – and they walked into the small mountain village.

As usual, snow was covering the tops of all of the shops and homes, and a chilling northern air blew through the street. Nya shivered beside him. Almost instinctively Jay slipped off his blue jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Nya said, shuddering from the cold. "I should have worn a sweater or something."

"It's f-fine," Jay replied, shivering, as he rubbed his arms to warm them up. All he was wearing was a white T-shirt. Nya rolled her eyes and came closer to him.

"No, it's not. I don't want you freezing to death," she said sternly. Jay grinned at her tone.

"It's not that b-bad..."

"Then why are yous shivering every moment?" Nya turned on her heels, standing to front of him. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders. "We need to find some dinner somewhere. With warm food. But for now..." Nya leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto his cheek. He blinked a couple times as her lips came in contact with his cold skin. It felt good. He smiled almost stupidly as she pulled away, her chocolate brown eyes filled with concern. "There? Does that warm you up?"

"Yeah..." Jay sighed, staring at her dreamily. Once again, this affection wasn't to annoy someone; it was for real, and that changed everything. It felt different. She smiled and took his hand once more. They continued to walk along, looking at all of the low roofed buildings for any restaurants. So far, all there was were some family-owned shops and houses. Nothing to eat, yet.

"So, Nya," Jay began. "Do you want to do something after this? Like, uh..." His mind went blank for a moment, trying to the think of something to do.

"Maybe we could just talk," she murmured. "When we get back, I mean, because I want to tell you something..."

"Can't you tell me now?" Jay asked. But before she could reply, he saw a big sign painted above a large home in the village circle. "Ooh, look! Food!" He pointed to the shop with excitement. Nya's eyes brightened.

"Awesome!" Nya exclaimed. "I'm starving!" They let go of each others hands' to jog towards the restaurant. Jay got there first, and held the door for Nya, who reach it a second later. She smiled and stepped inside. Jay followed, glad to get out of the cold.

The restaurant was a small place with few patrons, so Jay and Nya took a seat on one of the booths right up on the wall. They sat across from each other for a while before someone, a woman in a white Chinese-style dress came to their table with a pad of paper.

"Hello, and welcome! What can I get for you today?" She sounded pleasant enough, with a slight accent.

"Uh... Nya? What do you want to get?" he asked, turning to his girlfriend. She glanced at the menus that had been set on the tables. They were written on simple sheets of parchment, nothing too fancy.

"I'll take... the medium rice and teryaki chicken combo with a salad on the side," she decided after a moment.

"I'll have the same," Jay told the waitress after she had written the order. She nodded and walked away to get their order. They say for a while before Jay began talking.

"So, what do you want to tell me?" he asked, reaching his hand over the table. She took it, frowning slightly.

"Well... You know the whole thing with the Perfect Match machine and Cole being that match..." she didn't meet his eyes for a second.

"Yeah," Jay replied, not sure where this was going. _Is she... telling me who she'll pick? _"What about it?"

"Well... I've decided who I'm picking," she finally admitted, her chocolate eyes meeting his sapphire blue ones. "It's... You, Jay. I know I like Cole, he's strong and all, but you... I want you by my side for the rest of my life." Her voice was very quiet as she spoke, and her cheeks were very, very red. Jay stared at her for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her. She leaned forward and they met, eyes closed.

They had barely made contact when the waitress came back. They pulled away abruptly. Jay frowned slightly at the woman with their food, but she didn't seem to take any notice. "Here you go!" she said cheerfully. "Enjoy your meal!" Jay pulled out some money to pay, and gave it to her. Once she had left, they tucked into their meals.

"This is good chicken," Jay noted after eating nearly half of the serving. "I wonder if I could get some to go." Nya giggled.

"I personally like the salad," she told him. "It reminds me of cherry blossom trees."

"Hey, there's a park that my mom used to take me to when I was little," he said, lifting some rice to his mouth with chopsticks. "It's full of those trees. Maybe we could go there when we're done here."

"That would be nice," Nya said, finishing off the leaves of her salad. She began moving on to the chicken.

"Yeah, it's around the Forest of Tranquility, pretty small, but it's really nice. There are these rare birds - "

Suddenly, the door to the restaurant flew open, off of it's hinges and onto one of the tables. Almost immediately, Jay was on his feet, a katana poised in defensive position. Behind him, Nya was brandishing her fan blade, glinting red in the lighting. The rest of the people inside began cowering behind tables and chairs.

A huge, hulking figure stepped inside. It was dressed in bulky black-gray armor on his torso and arms. Two gauntlets protected his arms, gleaming silver. On his legs a kind of metal skirt went around the back of his legs and down all the way to his knees. He was wearing back leather boots. The figure's head, though, was the strangest part. It had the head of a dragon, with strangely human eyes, a long snout with fangs bristling from it, and a ridge of spikes going from between it's pointed ears and down his back. It was holding two black katanas. It's purple eyes scanned the restaurant before setting it's evil gaze on Jay and Nya.

"You are one of the ninja that the prophecy speaks of!" he roared, pointing his blades at Jay. His voice was raspy but deep, and menacing. "Stand down or I will kill you!"

"Not happening, lizard face!" Jay snapped back. "Ninja-GO!" He whirled into action, using Spinjitzu to knock the enemy outside the door. He was instantly transformed, from a young man in a white T-shirt and jeans to a ninja, his lightning-patterned robes and mask gleaming. The dragon warrior was on the ground, growling.

Jay took a quick look around, and his heart nearly stopped with what he saw: the dragon people were all around Jamanakai village, bringing the people out of buildings and lining them up. Jay turned back to his own fight.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in Ninjago?" he hissed. The dragon laughed.

"You'll learn once I destroy you!" he snarled, then leaped to his feet with a katana in one hand and a long serrated blade clenched in his other fist. With a roar, the warrior launched himself at Jay. The blue ninja barely had time to raise his own sword to defend himself, but he quickly recovered as the dragon's jagged end got stuck on Jay's weapon. He quickly pulled the silver blade back and bright the sharp edge onto the enemy's head. It fell, hissing.

"Jay!"

A familiar voice called from across the circle. Sensei Wu was battling more dragon warriors with his staff, knocking them down at every turn.

_Of course! _Lloyd said that Sensei would be here, and he was glad that his old teacher was here; he would need help fighting these foes. "Are you here alone?" Wu asked, beating back a dragon bearing a scythe.

"Nya's here with me!" Jay responded, flipping over one of them who ran at him. He cut the black-armored thing down onto the ground.

"Where?"

"Here!" Nya jumped out of the shop, her fan in one hand. "We need reinforcements to fight – who are these guys?"

"Ancient dragon people," Sensei said, dodging attacks left and right to reach his pupils. "When the First Spinjitzu Master created the Serpentine, he also made a race of dragon warriors. They were made to protect the remote edges of Ninjago. As you can see, they have strayed from that path." Jay sighed.

"Just as we defeat the most powerful enemy in all of Ninjago, we get another one who's even worse!" he exclaimed, scowling. "Did the First Spinjitzu Master have to create these guys?"

"Do not lose heart, Jay. You will remain here with me to fight. Nya, go to the ship and get Cole, Lloyd, and Kai. Zane - " He broke off when he remembered. "P.I.X.A.L can manage the _Bounty_ until our return."

"Got it," Nya nodded an affirmative, then turned and gave Jay a kiss on the cheek. "Keep fighting," she murmured, then raced off. She pressed a button on her bracelet: a remote that piloted her mech to the position she was at.

"Now," Sensei said, turning to face the dragons. Jay took a breath and followed suit "We fight."

* * *

**Alright, a longer chapter! Tell me if you like the Ninja's new foe and stuff. More is revealed about them later, and their whole "prophecy" thing.**

**My idea with the Dragon Warriors is that we've seen Ninja fighting an army of ninja (the Nindroids), so why not Samurai warriors? That's my idea, anyway... **

**I personally like writing Kai's annoyance at Jay and Nya as much as Nya likes that salad. **

**I hoped you like it!**


	3. Three

**Sorry for not updating yesterday; My dad is a Civil War reenactor, and we had to go to a reenactment for the day. **

**Now, onto individual reviews! **

_**Sketchrex**_**: Yeah, the First Spinjitzu Master was kind of an idiot. So I played that up for this story. **

**I just saw a bunch of stories with evil Samurai. Right after I uploaded the chapter. XD. **

**Indeed it is good relief from the rest of the tensity between the ninja right now. **

**Thanks!**

**_Awesomesauce Samurai 15_: Jaya is da best. And I doubt Kai will ever learn...**

**_Fell-and-Fallen_: Thank you! I'm glad that you like reading my work, and I'll take spitting on your phone as a compliment XD The new enemies were something that I just thought up, but when I was drafting the story, I realized I needed some real, solid history for these people, so now there's an intricate and pretty cool (in my opinion) written up in one of my notebooks. Anyways, thank you for reading! :D**

**_JayandNyamakelove_: Thanks! I've been working on how they can fend them off for a few hours. **

**_Ninjago1234_: I can't reveal any of that just yet... MUAHAHAHAHA (Lloyd's evil laugh) **

**_jaya forever_: Thank you very much! **

**_Guest_: There will be some trouble from Nya's choice... but not quite yet... (Cue Lloyd's evil laugh again) MUAHAHAHAHA. **

**Now that I've used half a page on responses, onto the chapter itself! :D**

* * *

Jay drew his second katana from his back and batted away two dragons. Beside him, Sensei Wu was kicking and knocking the strange warriors over the head and forcing them away with powerful blows.

"We don't stand a chance against these guys unless Nya can get the others over here!" the blue ninja shouted over the almost deafening noise of the warriors roaring and baying and howling as they charged. Jay and Wu were in the village center now, and fighting for their lives.

"Let us hope she is not in trouble of her own," Sensei said, whacking a warrior over the head like it was a training dummy. "Even one dragon warrior is a match for ninja. They are Samurai – fierce, proud, and relentless."

"I know what a Samurai is!" Jay sighed, spinning his katanas in his hands before he leaped into a horde of the black-scaled creatures advancing towards him. "My girlfriend is one, if you hadn't noticed!"

"They live somewhere – in the remotest mountains of Ninjago! They have never left their homes to war with the people before!"

"Why did the First Spinjitzu Master have to make these guys! Serpentine – okay, they're fine now! But seriously! If he was a ninja -"

"The ninja would be too occupied with warring the Overlord than dealing with threats that come from beyond the seas!" Sensei interrupted. Jay rolled his eyes; they were locked in a deadly battle with evil samurai and he found it appropriate for a history lesson! "The dragons would fight off leviathans and other beasts that could ravage the land! They were honorable – noble, but they didn't - "

"But they aren't now!" Jay snapped, finally losing it. "Whatever they were before, Sensei, they have to be stopped now! Ninja-GO!"

Jay launched himself into Spinjitzu, his lightning tornado sucking in dragons, then spitting them out, incapacitated. He was a whirlwind of ferocity, destruction and fear to his enemies. Many of the warriors saw him, dropped their weapons and fled.

Jay jumped out of his Spinjitzu, grinning and letting out a loose laugh. Doing that ancient art always left him feeling invigorated, stronger, and ready to take on the world.

Well, not the world right now. The entire legion of dragon warriors would be more appropriate than the world.

He did a flip and kicked one persistent dragon, who had not been caught in the tornado, in the snout. It let out a yelp of pain, dropping the solid iron bo staff in it's fist to cover the damaged nose. Jay used the flat of his katana to finish the fighter off.

"We can hold them until Nya gets back here, can't we?" Jay asked, putting his hands on his waist triumphantly, standing over the defeated bodies of his advisories.

"This is no time for gloating!" Sensei reprimanded him. The blue ninja turned and realized that his teacher was still desperately fighting back the fiends surrounding him.

"Sorry!" Jay leaped forward and into the group of Samurai surrounding Wu. He used his swords to taken down most of them. One dragon, a small purple one wielding dual sais, jabbed at him from underneath.

Jay wasn't ready for an attack from under him.

The sai stuck into his stomach.

Blood. Lots of blood. One moment, Jay was knocking down opponents like they were sacks of grain to help Sensei Wu, the next minute, blood was spurting from his abdomen. The blue ninja staggered backwards, letting out shouts of pain, dropping both silver blades from his hands. He clutched at his punctured stomach.

"Jay!"

He could hear his teacher's words; they were coming from close by... or was that far away?... he didn't really know. All he knew was that he was suddenly detached from the battle with excruciating pain ripping through him.

Blood was covering his hands. Sweat began pouring from his brow, and all he knew was that he was falling to the ground. Everything was in slow-motion for some reason, but it couldn't have taken more than a couple seconds in reality.

And then he blacked out.

* * *

Nya raced away from the battle, dodging the deadly projectiles - sais, shurikens, katanas, and even stones – being thrown at her from behind. She had tried to slip away unnoticed after she had been sent to fetch the others. Apparently she hadn't been as good as she thought at the art of silent getaways, because almost immediately ten or eleven of them turned from fighting Jay and Sensei to attack her.

She was glad she had mastered the art of running quickly, though. All she needed to do was get to the edge of the mountain, call her Samurai X mech, and the ninja would probably see it flying off. They would know something was wrong and follow.

Finally, she reached the edge of Jamanakai village center and the buildings that made a ring around the edge. She hopped into an alley between two houses, pressed herself against one of the wooden walls, and took a deep breath.

_Alright, Nya. Look around. Is there anyone following you? _She flashed a glace towards the entrance of the alley: there was no one.

_ Okay. If no one is there, then it's safe to move slowly, slowly down towards the edge of the mountain... _ She stepped away from the wall.

And of course, that was when three dragons decided it was time to follow her.

"Hey!" one yowled, pointing at her with clawed hands. "It's the ninja's girl!" She sighed with a mix of frustration and fear; these creatures were a lot stronger than she was. All she could hope was that they couldn't maneuver as well as she could. She did a flip over a few trash cans in the center of the narrow lane, ducked under a sign, then turned and ran towards the cliff.

She didn't look back, but her ears worked well enough. The racket of three bulky and heavily armed and armored warriors trying to crash through the alley was very noisy. Nya turned and unsheathed her fan. She didn't prefer this weapon, but it was great for close quarter fighting. And she suspected she would be doing some in a moment.

After the three warriors stumbled out from the wreckage of three trash cans, a torn sign, and most of their armor, Nya's bracelet began to flash red.

_It's coming. Come on, hold out for a few more seconds..._

"She's already more trouble than she looks," one growled, taking a step forward. It had lost it's heavy chest protection to reveal a very scaly torso. But it still had a sword. "Get 'er. And kill 'er, if ye need to."

"You won't be doing that," Nya snapped, drawing her blade as well. This was going to get ugly unless...

One of the dragons let out a guttural roar, and launched himself at Nya. She sidestepped him, then stabbed him in the back. He had no armor, leaving the softer, less protected scales near his waist vulnerable. It screeched, then fell off of the cliff.

"Yep, lots more trouble," the last one hissed. "I go' 'er boss!"

She took a breath. There was no way she could stand up to two of these dragons in a dress and Jay's jacket. She closed her eyes, preparing to make a final stand.

_Vrr..._

The whirring of engines reached Nya's ears from below her. She thought she was imagining it.

_Vrr..._ No, it was real. And getting louder. Which meant it was getting nearer. She opened her eyes: the two warriors were stalking towards her, brandishing their bladed weapons.

She had one option left. She decided on it.

Nya jumped over the side.

She landed in the Samurai X mech that was flying up from the ground towards the sky, landing with an _oof_! in open cockpit. Her helmet was lowered onto her head and armor placed by an internal mechanism of the suit, just under Jay's jacket as soon as the giant helmet of the mech lowered; Kai had helped her build it. Nya set the controls to fly straight up, preparing the cannons to be ready to blow up her enemies.

The two dragons had just been preparing to jump off the cliff with their wings unfurled when the Samurai exploded from beneath them, weapons bristling.

"What the - "

The dragon never finished his statement. Nya aimed the cannons at them and fired her missiles. The two were destroyed on impact.

Satisfied with her work, Nya glided forward, slowing the jets in the Samurai mech's feet so she wouldn't pass over the battle completely. Even still, she overshot the center and hand to double back to reach where Sensei and Jay were fighting down the main horde of enemies.

Or at least, from what she could see with her aerial position, where _Sensei_ was fighting. She couldn't spot Jay anywhere. _That's weird, _she thought. Usually his blue uniform and Spinjitzu tornado would be clearly visible from her height. And sometimes even his battle cries were audible from a long way away.

Nya shook her head. He might be rounding up the civilians or in another part of Jamanakai village fighting. Right now, she had to help Wu. The Samurai primed her cannons, using her helmet's HUD, the Heads Up Display, to aim with a few rapid blinks at one corner of the visor she wore. The screen was tinted blue, partly because she loved the color and partly because it made bright lights and colors during battle softer on the eyes.

She pressed a button on the suit's control panel and fired. The missile flew towards the ground, exploding when it hit and causing a plume of smoke to rise from the place of impact. Whatever enemies that had been standing there were vaporized, leaving only a shallow crater in the ground. She decided to land there; hopefully the dragons would get the message that if they tried to stop her, they'd be dead. Nya pulled a lever off to the side and the jets flickered off. The mech landed with a rumble in the dip, and the cockpit hissed open.

Nya flipped out of the Samurai X suit and pulled out her katana. There was always one ready to be equipped in her armor just in case she lost any weapons. She also had some spare shuriken and a small dagger concealed in all of her dresses and body armor. Kai said it was overkill, but she never knew what was going to happen, especially since the nindroid problem. Nya began to cut down dragons left and right, blood spattering across the ground and onto Jay's jacket.

_Oh, great. Now I've messed up his sweater... _she thought, rolling her eyes. The dragon blood was a purple-blue color, thicker than human blood. It was sort of like syrup.

One dragon turned and swiped at her with his claws. She ducked, stabbed him, then pulled the blade from the scaly chest. Another swung nunchucks at her. Duck, roll, slice. Duck, jump, stab. The simple process of battle soon fell into a seemingly natural rhythm. She had her goal, so she would follow through until she reached that objective: finding Sensei and Jay.

Finally, after taking down countless warriors and reducing the numbers of their forces to only around ten or twelve, she reached the old teacher. And when she saw what he was standing over, protecting from the dragons, her blood ran cold in her veins.

Jay was on the ground, eyes closed, with blood dripping from a stab wound to his stomach. His face was ashen. His hands were covered with the red substance.

_He's dead. _

_ No, Jay can't be dead! He can't, he can't, he can't._

With an yell that was a mixture of anguish, rage, fear, and sobbing all in one, Nya flung herself at the dragons, spinning her katana. She whipped out her fan blade and began slicing through dragons – necks, eyes, chests, arms, whatever she could reach.

After a few seconds, the corpses of eleven dragon warriors were lying on the ground around Jay, their purple blood mixing with the pool of the Lightning ninja's red. Nya stood there, panting, her fire-hued armor stained. Sensei Wu was sighing from the effort of the fight, stroking his beard and leaning on his staff as he looked over Jay. Nya tore her helmet off of her head and let it drop to the ground. She rushed to her boyfriend, laying in a pool of his own blood, and knelt over him. She gently pulled his hand up from where it was resting, on the wound, and gripped it in her hands.

"Jay," she whispered, staring in horror at his limp form. "Oh, Jay, what happened?" She quickly gazed up at Wu. He had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath. "Sensei? What...?" For a long time the wise old man did not respond.

"The Dragon Samurai," he finally responded, opening his eyes. "One got through his guard."

"Is he..." Nya knew that her lover was not dead yet. The faint rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still alive, albeit probably fading fast. They needed to get him help soon.

"He will not die just yet, Nya. He is strong, but this injury is worsening. We must get him to Ninjago City," Wu told her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Nya began to feel tears brimming in her eyes.

"There's no time to get to the city. There's a healer in this village. It would be closer, and..." her voice trailed off, threatening to crack with panic.

"The citizens of Jamanakai village left. The only place we could go is - "

"No!" Nya snapped, her voice trembling. "He'll die if we don't treat him fast! They can't have gone far, can they?"

"Nya..."

Before she could let out a retort, the sound of engines whizzed overhead. Both she and the Sensei looked up to see Kai falling from above, with Cole just behind him. P.I.X.A.L was after the Earth ninja, and taking the rear - or top - was Lloyd. They all landed in a messy pile on top of the dragons, but quickly sorted themselves out with a lot of grumbling and muttering.

"Sis!" Kai exclaimed, getting up first. He must have seen the blood on the blue sweater and thought she was injured.

"I-I'm fine, Kai," she murmured, her voice almost a whisper. "It's J-jay that's..."

Her brother didn't seem to hear her; as soon as he reached her he wrapped her in a tight hug. Cole did as well. She felt extremely awkward, but she had no time for that now. She pushed away from their embraces and pointed to Jay. "Jay nearly g-got killed," she said, regaining some of her strength.

"Dang," Kai muttered, kneeling over his fallen brother. He looked stricken. "We can't lose another, not after Zane..."

"Nya, it's going to be okay," Cole said softly, wrapping his arms around her once more. "I mean, we have each other - "

"No," she gasped out, trying to stop the tears. "I want to be with Jay. I don't... I love him. I..." Nya broke into tears, pulling away from the Earth ninja and putting her head in her hands. She ignored the expression of surprise and whatever else was there – she didn't care.

She closed her eyes as tears streaked down her face.

* * *

**No, Jay ain't going to die in this tale.** **I'll tell you all that much. **

**I hope you enjoyed; leave comments, question, constructive criticism, etc. in the reviews! :D **


	4. Four

**HELLO. I'll state my apologies down below. But this is really a cool-down chapter from the action last time. The next will pick up with a whole lot more intensity.  
**

* * *

Jay woke up in the hospital, feeling a horrible pain in his stomach and a throbbing headache. Letting out a groan, he sat up a little on the bed he was laying in. Blinking a few times, he flashed his blue eyes around the room. There were some nurses looking at monitors or at clipboards in their hands. There were maybe five or six in all, three of which were robots. From the insignias on their clothes – or chests, respectively – Jay could tell that he was at Ninjago General Hospital, in the city.

The blue ninja groaned once more, raising a hand to his brow. He felt sweat beading down onto his palm and fingers. How long had be been here? What had happened to Nya and Sensei? Was he..."

Thinking so hard intensified his headache, so he laid his head back down on the stark white pillow, stained by his perspiration. Jay sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't help but wondering what had happened. All he could remember before the waves of pain and blood hit was that some tiny dragon had gotten beneath his guard with a sai... and then he was gone.

_Did Sensei Wu make it? Did Nya make it? Man, I can't lose her again... _If they had taken her like they had at the Dark Island, he'd _kill_ someone. Preferably a giant black dragon warrior.

"Mr. Walker? Are you awake?" Jay opened his blue eyes slightly. One of the robotic nurses – a tall humanoid that looked rather like a circle with an oval on top. It had multiple arms which were all carrying surgical equipment. To top it off, it had a round head and two circular yellow eyes.

"Y...yeah," he murmured, shaking his head as he propped himself up on the pillows. "Who brought me in?" He needed to know; If Nya was okay, then she probably would have been the one to take him here.

"A nice young lady and a very handsome young man," one of the human nurses said, turning around from a computer screen. Jay sighed in relief. _Nya's okay! _He could guess that the young man was either Kai or Cole or Zan- _Oh, wait. Zane's gone. _

"How long ago?"

"Oh, last night," the same nurse replied, picking up a clipboard. "You've been improving slowly, but now you've woken up."

"Where are they?" he asked. Maybe they stayed... or more likely they left. They needed rest after a fight like that.

"Oh, what was his name? Kai? Kai, right?" the nurse asked. Jay nodded an affirmative. "Well, Kai left, but Green Ninja and that pretty girl stayed here."

_Nya and Lloyd. Where's Cole? _

"You should be resting," the robotic nurse said, her voice cold. "My analysis says that with another twelve hour rest you will be quicker to recovering. At six hours you may begin to have visitors."

"Can't people come to see me now?" he asked, frowning slightly as sweat dribbled from his scalp and into his eyes.

"Your condition is still unstable," the droid said. "Not until you are in a safe state will visitors be able to enter."

"You were sparking half of the time," another human said as she plugged in a computer. "Shorted out all of our systems for a while."

_I electrocute things while I'm in pain? Hm._

Jay rested his head once more, and fell asleep.

* * *

Nya was sitting in a comfortable armchair in the waiting area outside of Jay's room in the hospital, a mug of steaming hot chocolate in her hands, but she wasn't drinking it. She let the hot mist rise from the liquid and curl around her head. The girl's eyes were closed as she thought.

At first when Jay had been stabbed, she'd been in shock. She was scared and desperate to see him safe, especially right after she had finally made the choice that Kai, Cole, and Jay himself were all waiting for. Now she was pondering all of the oh-so-poisonous _what-ifs _that came to her head.

What if they hadn't gone to Jamanaki village?

What if the Dragons didn't come?

What if the repercussions of her decision came up faster? Right now, Cole was at home cooking.

That last one was gnawing at her mind constantly. Nya sighed. If she kept contemplating these thoughts she would go insane. She blocked out her thoughts and let the warmth of the hot chocolate seep into her cold hands. Kai had bought it for her with money he'd stolen from Lloyd. Nya suspected that her brother would have taken from Jay's piggy bank had be not been the one injured. He had figured out how to disarm the alarm system for the pig-mech a while ago, with Zane's help.

The earpiece that Nya kept in her ear began to buzz annoyingly. It was a part of her mech suit that could fold into the side of her helmet, and connected to her HUD to record conversations. Setting the mug on a side table on her right she raised her hand to the comlink and tapped it to activate.

"Hey, sis!" It was Kai, obviously. "What's up?" His voice was seemingly cheerful.

"Nothing." Nya's voice was flat.

"Have you been able to see Jay? Is he all right?"

"No. The droid said he was unstable. Shocking everything in the room."

A snort of laughter was the reply. "Sounds like Jay. Are you hungry? Cole's made a pizza that actually isn't that bad."

It was Nya's turn to giggle, brightening her mood for a moment. _Cole? Making a pizza that tastes _good_? Unbelievable. _"And when I say not bad, by the way," her brother continued. "It's not good. It's just not horrible." Satisfied that her unbelief was justified, she sighed.

"Save me a couple pieces. I'll stay until closing time."

"Are you sure? We could eat in the parking lot..."

"No. Bye." She tapped the earpiece once more, cutting off anything the Fire Ninja might say next. She picked up her hot chocolate again, closed her eyes, and went back into wondering.

A couple days later, Nya was once again sitting in the waiting area. This time she had Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L with her, and both were talking quietly next to her. She hadn't been admitted to see her Lightning Ninja the last day she'd visited and Kai and Sensei had insisted that she remained on the Bounty the day after. She was getting mopey and depressed, and the last thing they wanted was for the team Samurai to not be battle-ready.

"And what if the Dragons attack again?" Kai had argued. "We need your help. Without Jay, we need everyone we can get." So Cole had taken to watching the radar room, looking for signs of trouble.

So far, none had come.

"And then, I flipped the nindroid over..." Lloyd's detailing – and embellishing – a story of a skirmish with Cryptor's forces in the Forest of Tranquility on the way to Garmadon's monastary brought her from her thoughts. She rolled her eyes; Nya had been there for that skirmish, and half of the stuff he was telling Zane's girlfriend wasn't even true. P.I.X.A.L, though, seemed engrossed by the tale and was listening intently. "And hit the eel that powered it right on the head. You should have seen that guy's face when he was about to shut down!"

Lloyd had been telling these stories for over thirty minutes now, so Nya decided it was finally time to shut his ego down, at least for a little bit. She turned to the two of them, one eyebrow raised. "I was there when this fight happened, right?" she asked. The Green Ninja looked at her suspiciously for a moment before nodding hesitantly.

"Yeah, you were."

"And if I remember correctly..." She glanced up at the beige-painted ceiling. _Wow, they really need a new color. Beige isn't a very cheery one. _"You were getting away with Kai and Sensei, not fighting with me, Cole, and Jay." Lloyd's face reddened. His eyes darted quickly to P.I.X.A.L, but she just seemed quietly confused. "And the Nindroids didn't get the eels as a power source until at least a week later."

"I-uh-maybe..." His face became a deeper shade of crimson. He was saved from having to explain himself by the door of Jay's room creaking open and a human nurse – blonde, short, maybe about thirty – poked her head out.

"Hello? You may see Mr. Walker now Miss..." the nurse saw Lloyd's red face, then the green suit, and nearly fainted. Nya could tell what she was thinking:

_OH-MY-GOSH-THE-GREEN-NINJA-IS-HERE. _

It was a very weird thought for a thirty-something year old having a crush on a teenager, but she brushed it off. She would be allowed to see Jay, and that was cause for celebration. Taking a breath, the Samurai stood and walked forward towards the door.

* * *

**I AM SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER! I had writers block, and when I finally got around to writing this I got banned from my computer. But I haven't forgotten this story, not at all! :) **

**I shall be getting more frequent here, maybe two to three chapters a week? I dunno. I'll attempt it. My school has a four-day-weekend, so I might even get four chapters! :D  
**

**Hear about the new Season of Ninjago, by the way? The sets look awesome, and there's a rumor that the whole love triangle will be resolved. I hope it ends favorably for Jay and Nya... Hisss...**


	5. Five

**Okay, I wrote one chapter today, but decided to divide into two, one from Jay's POV and the other from Nya's. I like one point of view per chapter, and I'll only do switching around if I need to. I'm also releasing both chappies at the same time :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jay looked up as the door of his hospital room creaked open. The loud noise sent a tingle down his spine; one of the medical droids had told him that it would for a while, until he got better. It had explained why, something to do with his electrical powers, but he didn't remember the exact words.

But that really didn't matter now, because of who entered the room. Nya was dressed in her usual dress, and as far as he could tell no makeup or anything. Her hair hadn't been combed well. But she was still beautiful.

"Nya!" he exclaimed, jolting upright. The pain in his stomach flared up and he winced. He slouched down a little, and when the pain refused to alleviate, he laid down completely and raised his head. "You're here..."

"Oh my gosh," Nya gasped, probably seeing all of the monitors glowing and nurses rushing around the large space. She rushed to him, but one of the droids trundled in front of her. The Samurai barely stopped before she tripped.

"Do I look bad?" Jay asked, his brow creasing. "Is it the - "

"Please do not agitate the patient more, Miss," the nurse said in a cold, flat monotone. Jay watched as Nya stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest.

_I'm still in bad shape? Really? _

"I was told I was allowed to come in here," she protested, scowling. "And I've been waiting for days. I think I have a _right_ to be excited."

"I am sorry, but you are agitating Mr. Walker," the droid replied. Jay thought if a robot could be patient, this one was losing it. "Please do not come any closer." She took one of the monitors and swiveled it to face his girlfriend. He couldn't see it, but Jay assumed that it had some graphs or something. "As you can see, his vitals signs and other statistics are deviating from their course of recovery."

"This isn't about numbers!" Nya snapped, her cheeks getting red. "This about family!"

_She's certainly cute when she gets agitated... _He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wished he could step in on her side, but the droid was stubborn. And he was in no state for arguing. Thankfully, one of the human nurses that had the name of Leah on her name thing, did it for him.

"N-Six-Two," she said coolly. "This young lady has been waiting a long time. Please let her see her... friend."

'Friend' was a bit of an understatement, Jay mused as he closed his eyes. But he supposed that was as much as the droid could comprehend in the area of emotions. P.I.X.A.L hadn't felt anything but a cold sense of duty to Cyrus Borg before Zane had given her his power source.

"Very well," N-Six-Two said, still the same droning tone. She trundled to one of the small monitors in the wall that did something; he didn't know what it was.

As soon as it was out of the way, Nya jumped towards him and knelt at the side of his bed. She placed a hand gently on his forehead to push the hair from his eyes. "Oh, Jay," she murmured, staring into his eyes. His face flushed crimson.

"How's everything?" Jay asked, his voice weak. _Cole had better not be mad. He got what he deserved. _He kept telling himself that, although he was surprised he felt a bit sorry for his brother. _Don't go soft on him. He tried to steal my girl. _

Nya sighed. "Everything is tense. Cole is always in the bridge. Kai's trying to cheer everyone up and Lloyd is flirting with P.I.X.A.L."

"Flirting?"

"Yeah."

"I hope..." The stitches in his abdomen caused him to wince as he sat up. This time he forced himself to stay that way.

"You hope what?" Nya asked, tilting her head slightly. She placed her hand on top of his own, which was resting limply on his blanket.

"Nevermind."

They were there in silence forever. Maybe a couple seconds. He had no clue. But he was glad just to be in her presence.

"Miss, there is someone outside to see you," N-Six-Two said. "He says that it is urgent."

Jay scowled up at the droid, but Nya stood up obediently. "Is it my friends?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss.

Nya turned back to Jay and leaned down, pressing her lips to his forehead. "I'll go and check it out, then come right back," she whispered. She straightened, then headed out.

As soon as she left, Jay felt a subtle amount of fear enter the room. The nurses who had once been quietly working were now talking in hushed tones, and the droids seemed to be... shutting things down? That was odd.

"Nurse?" he called to Leah. She was by the door, talking with apparent agitation to a droid. "What's going on?"

The nurse flashed a quick towards him, then back at the droid, then back to him. After a couple seconds of hesitation, she walked stiffly over to him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Walker," she said. "There are some people outside who want you." Jay's brow furrowed. _My parents? But... they wouldn't cause this much trouble at a hospital. And the only other people who would care are my friends... _

"Who?" he asked. "My parents?"

"No... they are... um..." Leah seemed unable to finish the sentence. That increased his worry even more. He decided to prompt her a bit.

"They are..." The nurse closed her eyes and exhaled, then responded in a low tone.

"Dragons. Big, huge, dragon warriors."

The temperature of the room seemed to decrease. The color drained from Jay's face, and the pain in his abdomen magnified.

"What do they want?" he asked, nearly squeaking with shock.

"They want you. And the Green Ninja. Otherwise... they burn down this hospital."

Jay opened his mouth, speechless. He was saved from making a response by the door opening and Nya entering with P.I.X.A.L and Lloyd behind her. All three of them looked grim.

"We've got to get you out of here," Lloyd said, walking over to them briskly. There was a small introduction where Leah told them her name, but Lloyd had the air of someone who really didn't care about formalities. "This place has a helipad, right?"

Leah nodded. "There are three: two over here and another on the other end of the compound. All three of the choppers are out, though." Nya's eyes rounded with fear, and she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I will call one in," P.I.X.A.L said, heading over to a monitor and tapping a few buttons.

"Ma'am, all the systems are shut down," Leah told her apologetically. "Password lock."

"Please stand back." The former assistant ignored her. P.I.X.A.L said something into the computer, then turned back to them. "A helicopter will be arriving in nine minutes."

The next seven minutes were agonizing. Nya spent some of the time sitting with him, holding his hand or running her own through his hair. Leah was sending droids and humans out of the room in pairs or by themselves. Lloyd was standing next to the door, occasionally peeking out to the waiting room and his face getting more anxious every time he did. P.I.X.A.L stayed by the computer, murmuring into it or typing quickly.

"Is the helicopter here?" Jay asked several times, but no one replied. Everyone just got more worried.

After probably the tenth time Lloyd looked out, he had news. Bad, of course. Just Jay's luck.

"Dragons are starting to move up the stairs. They're getting impatient..."

"Are they holding us ransom?" Leah asked pensively, clasping her hands behind her back as she paced the room.

"It seems like it."

It got a whole lot colder after that, and everyone talked less.

Finally, P.I.X.A.L spoke. "Our transport is here. We will have to be discreet in making our way to the helipad." All of them nodded, and Jay's stomach turned. _Last time we fought I got stabbed. What if I get killed. What happens to the others? I can't afford to make the team lose another. _He forced himself to focus on living. And getting well enough to fight another day.

"How do we carry Jay?" Nya asked, standing up. "A gurney? Stretcher?"

"It would be quickest and quietest if someone carried him," Leah admitted. "It might be a bit - "

"I can walk!" Jay exclaimed, pushing his sheets off him. He looked down at his stomach, and it nearly flipped again. He was wearing thin hospital garments, but there was blood stained on the teal color. Then he shook his head. _I can walk. _With trembling legs, he slid off the bed and attempted to stand.

His knees buckled, and Lloyd was swiftly at his side to keep him up. "You can limp," he corrected. "You'll need help. The nurse is right; we'll have to carry you."

Jay could only feel comfortable if Nya was carrying him, but that would still be very awkward; shouldn't it be the other way around? He shook his head once again. "I'll walk." He stood up shakily and took a few steps. Better.

Nya came to his side and linked their arms. "We can walk _together_."

Leah took the lead as they headed out to the waiting room, holding a clipboard and pen. Lloyd followed, his duel gold katanas in his hands. Jay and Nya were behind, and P.I.X.A.L took the rear.

"Where is the exit to the helipad?" Jay hissed quietly to Leah. The nurse paused in her walking but did not turn around.

"There's a hatch in the roof on the bridge," she told him.

"Bridge?"

"It connects two wards and goes above the lobby. It's not very far." She raised a hand to point towards the bridge: a strip of the second floor walled off by glass, leading from their side to another. "It's near the stairs though, and that's where the dragons are. We have to be quick."

They began again, faster this time. Jay was filled with dread as he saw the spines of the dragons on the stairwell. They would have only a couple of seconds to be unnoticed...

Those couple of seconds passed quickly. The head of a dragon popped up at the top of the steps, and it opened it's long jaws in a roar. "The ninja! The prophesied ones!"

_For the love of... _"Run!" Jay yelled. They did.

Nya began to drag him along, nearly overtaking Leah. Lloyd now took the rear as he blocked the barrage of missiles: shurikens, kunais, and shards of glass. The began to cross the bridge, ducking as they raced forward.

The square hatch, no more than two feet wide, was in the center of the walkway. They reached it in less than fifteen seconds. P.I.X.A.L pressed a button on a control panel, connected to the railing of the bridge. The hatch swung open automatically and a rope ladder came down.

"How is Jay supposed to climb that?" Lloyd asked, dismayed.

"I can do it," Jay snapped, unlocking his arm from Nya's He reached up and grasped the second rung tightly, and began to climb. His palms were sweaty, making it hard to keep a firm hold on the ladder. It swung precariously, and he had to dodge projectiles as he made his way up. A few threatened to snap the thin cords. It was short, though, and he found himself on the roof before he knew it. Nya followed, then Leah, P.I.X.A.L, and lastly Lloyd.

_That was harder than I thought, _Jay admitted to himself, then turned to see the helicopter. It was a small, sleek black-and-purple chopper that reminded him painfully of the dragons down below.

"Hurry!" Leah cried, running forward. Jay tripped his way after her with Nya. The helicopter had a wide bay, obviously for carrying multiple ill or sick passengers. "There's a drone driver; we don't have to worry about piloting."

"Get Jay into the operating cabin," Nya ordered, immediately taking charge of the situation. "Those dragons will be here soon, and we need to be taking off." P.I.X.A.L and Leah took his shoulders and maneuvered him through a rather narrow hatch and into a small berth, where a table, some computer screens, and surgical equipment

"P.I.X.A.L, please get him strapped in. We have to make sure he's secure for the ride."

'Ride' made it sound like they were at Mega Monster Amusement Park. Jay had taken Nya there once on a make-up for their first date. It had actually gone down pretty well, except that he threw up halfway through one of the newest rides at the park, the Ring of Fire. Some genius had seen Jay reach his true potential while saving Nya and made a water ride based on that event. Riders were in couples, with as many as six cars going at a time.

This, though, was certainly not supposed to be fun.

They got him secured with seat belt-like straps and covered him with a few thin sheets, presumably to keep him warm. Both left the cabin. Then the chopper began to rise. Jay could tell because of the terrible jerk and the loud noise of propellers. Then they began forwards in a burst of energy and flame from the engines. Jay clutched at his blankets, closing his eyes. When he was able to move around in the air, he was fine. But he was strapped in and dependent on other people for help. He hated helplessness. But he was trapped.

_I hate these dragons. I really, really do. Why couldn't they be nice dragons? Like Whisp? Rocky? Shard? Flame? Heck, Lloyd's golden thing. No, they have to be murderous thugs bent on capturing us. _

_ Well done, First Spinjitzu Master. Well done. _

In the main cabin, things were not going well. Leah had reported that Jay was strapped in, but P.I.X.A.L's scanners were picking up dragon life signatures following them. By now, they were above downtown Ninjago; it was still being rebuilt. Mass panic would be spreading if anyone saw them or their enemies. They would have to get above the land outside of the city: the desert.

"How many of them are there?" Lloyd asked, looking up from the chair he was sitting in. It was a swiveling one, right in the center of the room. He was spinning around and looking concerned.

"At least twenty," P.I.X.A.L said. "I recommend we move to a less populated area."

"Already doing that," Leah said, coming from the cockpit. "I spoke to the pilot and it said that we'd be moving to the desert within five minutes."

A rumble shook the chopper, and heat could be felt from the open windows, high in the hull of the aircraft. Fire.

"Either that's Kai or..." Nya began, getting up to check the outside.

"Or they're fire-breathing dragons," Lloyd growled, standing and brandishing his katana. "We have to fight 'em off."

"No!" Leah gasped. Both Nya and Lloyd looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I-I'm sorry," she said, regaining her composure. "I just think that if we can get away without violence..."

"We'll try it," Lloyd assured her. " P.I.X.A.L, what's our chances of getting into the desert without a battle?"

"In simple terms?" the android asked. "Chances are extremely slim. I recommend you attack first."

All three of them glanced at Leah. The nurse was hyperventilating. Sweat was beginning to drip from her forehead.

Nya realized that this poor woman was not used to violence of any kind. The whole team, Jay, Kai, Cole, P.I.X.A.L, Zane, Lloyd, Sensei and Garmadon, and even herself, had been conditioned to fighting from years of battles. Leah was a simple hospital nurse who was used to healing wounds, not inflicting them. They would have to consider her in whatever decisions they made from here on out.

"We don't fight," Nya decided. "Yet. Lets get to the desert first, then try and figure it out from there."

Thankfully no one argued with her choice, but the Green Ninja looked a bit skeptical. She would tell him her reasoning later. As P.I.X.A.L went in to talk to the pilot, Nya glanced out the window. The heat of the flames was lessened, but...

She noticed something in the sky. They were small dots or specks in the air. She didn't think of them for another few moments, but then she realized:

Those black specks in the sky moving towards them.

It hit her later than she would have liked.

"Duck! Everyone duck!" she screamed, hitting the ground. The others followed suit a split second after.

Jets of flame shot through the portholes, filling the cabin with fire. Nya had never felt something so hot in her life. Sure, she'd been stuck with Kai as her older brother, but the fire he created was _warm_, not searing.

Everything around her seemed to be blurred and out of sync. Leah was screaming, but it was distant to her ears. Lloyd was trying to beat back the flames with his Green Power, and failing. Something was crawling up her arm, something hot, heading towards her shoulder -

"Nya!"

Was that Jay? It sounded like him... But wasn't he in the back...

Jay leaped on top of her, smothering the fire all over her arms. He pinned her to the ground. Both of them were breathing hard, and perspiration was pouring from the Lightning ninja's face.

"Jay!" Nya exclaimed, placing her shaking hands on his chest. The moment would have been _very_ romantic if they weren't being attacked, and she blushed despite herself. "How..." she found herself gasping for air before each word. "How did you get out?"

"The soundproofing isn't very good," he replied, his voice unusually quiet. "I heard all of the shouting and broke the restraints..."

Of course. He was a ninja, and even though he was far from being the strongest on the team, he was very capable.

"Lovebirds, it's really nice you two are back together, it really is, but please, I NEED HELP NOW!" Lloyd yelled over the dragon-fire.

"S-sorry!" Jay replied, pushing himself up and onto his knees. He crawled over to where Lloyd was. "Lloyd! Spinjitzu!"

"But we could tear apart the entire plane!" he responded, finally breaking to the relentless stream of fire. "I don't want to take the risk!"

"It's either that or we burn to death!" Jay shot back. "Now or never, Lloyd!"

"Fine."

Nya watched from her position the floor. They would have to be on their feet and spinning in less than a second. If not, there would be two baked ninja.

"Three!" Lloyd shouted. "Two..."

"One! Ninja-GO!" The two ninja leaped to their feet...

Nya breathed a sigh of relief as they transformed into whirlwinds, one green and the other blue. Lightning crackled as they spun into the flames, and it began to beat back the fire, towards the hull of the chopper.

"P.I.X.A.L!" Nya yelled frantically. The entire effort would be in vain if they could not push the fire out. "Open the side!" The entire side of the helicopter could open up as a large entryway. She hoped the android could hear her...

With a loud grating sound that hurt to hear, the left side of the helicopter slid open. At once the crackling flames blew out into the sky. The heat that had been so painful dissipated. The two Spinjitzu tornadoes broke apart. Jay was flung towards the cockpit, but Lloyd slid across the floor and rolled out of the cabin.

"Lloyd!" Jay yelled. The Green Ninja was hanging on by one hand to the edge. Fire was blowing at him in quick concentrated bursts. He leaped over and reached for his hand.

"Leah!" Nya called to the nurse who was cowering in the entrance to the medical berth. "We need help!"

"I-I can't!" she replied. "It's too...too..."

"Lloyd will fall if you don't help us!" Nya crawled over to Jay and grabbed his ankles, enabling him to slide out and grab his teammates other hand. "Just grab my ankles and make sure I don't get dragged down!"

The nurse hesitantly laid down and reached her arms and wrapped her fingers around Nya's boots.

"That's it...Just hold on..." Jay was leaning out of the plane – no small feat with his injury threatening to tear open – to get the Green Ninja's other arm.

_Everything's fine... Oh, no. _Nya looked up with terror as a small dragon swooped inside of the cabin. It had a sai, still bloody from an apparent earlier fight. _That's the one that stabbed Jay! _Anger welled up inside her, but she had to keep under control. For now.

Then everything went wrong. The little monster lowered itself with it's wings and grabbed Leah's legs. It dragged her up, screaming, then fluttered out of the chopper. Nya felt herself being lifted up.

Then the rush of wind and the hot desert air hit her. She could see the others falling, falling, falling. The ground was rushing up towards them -

Then they hit the ground.


	6. Six

**Okay, next chapter. I don't think this is my best work, but this is the best I could do at the moment. The next chapter will be up maybe tomorrow, or perhaps Monday. **

* * *

In the main cabin, things were not going well. Leah had reported that Jay was strapped in, but P.I.X.A.L's scanners were picking up dragon life signatures following them. By now, they were above downtown Ninjago; it was still being rebuilt. Mass panic would be spreading if anyone saw them or their enemies. They would have to get above the land outside of the city: the desert.

"How many of them are there?" Lloyd asked, looking up from the chair he was sitting in. It was a swiveling one, right in the center of the room. He was spinning around and looking concerned.

"At least twenty," P.I.X.A.L said. "I recommend we move to a less populated area."

"Already doing that," Leah said, coming from the cockpit. "I spoke to the pilot and it said that we'd be moving to the desert within five minutes."

A rumble shook the chopper, and heat could be felt from the open windows, high in the hull of the aircraft. Fire.

"Either that's Kai or..." Nya began, getting up to check the outside.

"Or they're fire-breathing dragons," Lloyd growled, standing and brandishing his katana. "We have to fight 'em off."

"No!" Leah gasped. Both Nya and Lloyd looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I-I'm sorry," she said, regaining her composure. "I just think that if we can get away without violence..."

"We'll try it," Lloyd assured her. " P.I.X.A.L, what's our chances of getting into the desert without a battle?"

"In simple terms?" the android asked. "Chances are extremely slim. I recommend you attack first."

All three of them glanced at Leah. The nurse was hyperventilating. Sweat was beginning to drip from her forehead.

Nya realized that this poor woman was not used to violence of any kind. The whole team, Jay, Kai, Cole, P.I.X.A.L, Zane, Lloyd, Sensei and Garmadon, and even herself, had been conditioned to fighting from years of battles. Leah was a simple hospital nurse who was used to healing wounds, not inflicting them. They would have to consider her in whatever decisions they made from here on out.

"We don't fight," Nya decided. "Yet. Lets get to the desert first, then try and figure it out from there."

Thankfully no one argued with her choice, but the Green Ninja looked a bit skeptical. She would tell him her reasoning later. As P.I.X.A.L went in to talk to the pilot, Nya glanced out the window. The heat of the flames was lessened, but...

She noticed something in the sky. They were small dots or specks in the air. She didn't think of them for another few moments, but then she realized:

Those black specks in the sky moving towards them.

It hit her later than she would have liked.

"Duck! Everyone duck!" she screamed, hitting the ground. The others followed suit a split second after.

Jets of flame shot through the portholes, filling the cabin with fire. Nya had never felt something so hot in her life. Sure, she'd been stuck with Kai as her older brother, but the fire he created was _warm_, not searing.

Everything around her seemed to be blurred and out of sync. Leah was screaming, but it was distant to her ears. Lloyd was trying to beat back the flames with his Green Power, and failing. Something was crawling up her arm, something hot, heading towards her shoulder -

"Nya!"

Was that Jay? It sounded like him... But wasn't he in the back...

Jay leaped on top of her, smothering the fire all over her arms. He pinned her to the ground. Both of them were breathing hard, and perspiration was pouring from the Lightning ninja's face.

"Jay!" Nya exclaimed, placing her shaking hands on his chest. The moment would have been _very_ romantic if they weren't being attacked, and she blushed despite herself. "How..." she found herself gasping for air before each word. "How did you get out?"

"The soundproofing isn't very good," he replied, his voice unusually quiet. "I heard all of the shouting and broke the restraints..."

Of course. He was a ninja, and even though he was far from being the strongest on the team, he was very capable.

"Lovebirds, it's really nice you two are back together, it really is, but please, I NEED HELP NOW!" Lloyd yelled over the dragon-fire.

"S-sorry!" Jay replied, pushing himself up and onto his knees. He crawled over to where Lloyd was. "Lloyd! Spinjitzu!"

"But we could tear apart the entire plane!" he responded, finally breaking to the relentless stream of fire. "I don't want to take the risk!"

"It's either that or we burn to death!" Jay shot back. "Now or never, Lloyd!"

"Fine."

Nya watched from her position the floor. They would have to be on their feet and spinning in less than a second. If not, there would be two baked ninja.

"Three!" Lloyd shouted. "Two..."

"One! Ninja-GO!" The two ninja leaped to their feet...

Nya breathed a sigh of relief as they transformed into whirlwinds, one green and the other blue. Lightning crackled as they spun into the flames, and it began to beat back the fire, towards the hull of the chopper.

"P.I.X.A.L!" Nya yelled frantically. The entire effort would be in vain if they could not push the fire out. "Open the side!" The entire side of the helicopter could open up as a large entryway. She hoped the android could hear her...

With a loud grating sound that hurt to hear, the left side of the helicopter slid open. At once the crackling flames blew out into the sky. The heat that had been so painful dissipated. The two Spinjitzu tornadoes broke apart. Jay was flung towards the cockpit, but Lloyd slid across the floor and rolled out of the cabin.

"Lloyd!" Jay yelled. The Green Ninja was hanging on by one hand to the edge. Fire was blowing at him in quick concentrated bursts. He leaped over and reached for his hand.

"Leah!" Nya called to the nurse who was cowering in the entrance to the medical berth. "We need help!"

"I-I can't!" she replied. "It's too...too..."

"Lloyd will fall if you don't help us!" Nya crawled over to Jay and grabbed his ankles, enabling him to slide out and grab his teammates other hand. "Just grab my ankles and make sure I don't get dragged down!"

The nurse hesitantly laid down and reached her arms and wrapped her fingers around Nya's boots.

"That's it...Just hold on..." Jay was leaning out of the plane – no small feat with his injury threatening to tear open – to get the Green Ninja's other arm.

_Everything's fine... Oh, no. _Nya looked up with terror as a small dragon swooped inside of the cabin. It had a sai, still bloody from an apparent earlier fight. _That's the one that stabbed Jay! _Anger welled up inside her, but she had to keep under control. For now.

Then everything went wrong. The little monster lowered itself with it's wings and grabbed Leah's legs. It dragged her up, screaming, then fluttered out of the chopper. Nya felt herself being lifted up.

Then the rush of wind and the hot desert air hit her. She could see the others falling, falling, falling. The ground was rushing up towards them -

Then they hit the ground.


	7. Seven

**There are several nautical terms in this chapter and in the next few; Here is a list of them all so you won't get confused. **

**Accommodation Ladder- A ladder on the side of the ship. **

**Archboard- A board where the name of the ship is written. **

**Deck- The floor of the ship. **

**Belowdecks-**_ I am not sure that this is a legitimate boating term, but I've seen it in several books and movies, so I like to use it. _

**The decks beneath the main deck, mainly used for crew hammocks and storage. **

**Fantail- The part of a ship towards the back where the wheel is. Also called the poop deck. **

**Port- A dock or pier, sometimes with a town and places for ships to restock their provisions. **

**Crow's Nest- The place where a lookout would stand on the mast.**

**Moor- Dock **

**Port Side- The left side of the ship. Called port because ships came into port on the left side. **

**Starboard- The right side. **

**Bow- Front of the ship.**

**Stern- Back of the ship.**

* * *

The only reason Nya lived through the fall was because Jay nearly died.

As they hurtled through the air, Jay flipped himself around to catch her. The Samurai was touched by his willingness to get himself killed for her sake, but she did not _want_ him to die for her. He was still in his hospital livery and blood was pouring from the wound with sickening speed. As the ground came closer and closer, the Samurai literally fell into his arms. He wrapped them protectively around her chest. She didn't realize what he was doing until the earth was only a hundred feet away from the earth: he was breaking her fall.

"Jay!" she screamed, trying to push him away. His spine would break – he'd be gone for sure. Either he didn't hear her over the deafening wind, or he didn't care what she said or did, which was more likely. She struggled to break away from him. If Jay didn't have to focus on keeping her alive then he could save himself -

Two things happened at once. The first was that the helicopter burst into flame, becoming a purple-orange blaze in the sky. The second was they hit the ground.

Lloyd landed on his feet with a cry of shock and pain. Next was Jay, who knew was he was doing, to her surprise. Two or three feet above the ground he let fly a blast of electricity, stopping them for one moment before they dropped onto the sand with a thud.

All three of them were breathing loud and hard. Nya had raised her hands to grasp Jay's with her eyes squeezed shut.

_Leah. _

_ And P.I.X.A.L. _

_ Where are they? P.I.X.A.L can't be dead. But the chopper is on fire... _

And Leah... oh Leah. She had to be dead. If Lloyd wasn't carrying her, then she was gone. The finality struck her like a blow to the head from a club. The nurse from Ninjago General had seemed like a good person, if a little cowardly. _We have to find her body... if there is one. _The Samurai knew that when someone hit the ground from a high place, it was like slamming into cement: splattering.

"Nya..." Jay mumbled into her ear. She opened her eyes and tilted her head towards his. She caught a sight of his face. It was pale, and his hair was pushed off his forehead. His eyes were half closed and while there was a gleam of pain, there was also cheekiness, which assured her that he'd be okay. "You can't get rid of me. I'll always be here to..." he grunted with discomfort as he tried to sit up on the hot ground. "Protect you."

"I can protect myself," she replied softly, flipping around so she was laying on top of him and jabbed two fingers lightly into his chest.

A sound of annoyance from Lloyd made both of them turn their heads. He was laying awkwardly on on arm, trying to keep his legs from touching sand. "Yeah, please stop cuddling in public," he told them, only half-serious. "It gets uncomfortable."

"We aren't 'cuddling'," Jay muttered, but he did unlock his arms from around Nya to let her get off. She stood up and dusted the light coating of sand from her red dress. Jay got to his feet. He took a few steps forward, then toppled over, wheezing.

Nya immediately dropped to one knee and examined his clothes, running her hand over his torso. When she saw his abdomen, her own stomach took a turn for the worse, and she had to turn away to wretch. She forced herself to raise his shirt up a little to see the full extent of his wound.

The tear had been opened up completely, revealing a sickening amount of her Ninja's insides. Blood wasn't gushing, but a good amount was trickling out onto the golden sands. There was a sickly white rim around it; this was the worst injury she'd ever seen.

"Lloyd!" Nya yelped, turning her head frantically to the Green Ninja. He had rolled onto his stomach by this point and was attempting – miserably – to stand. "Lloyd, can you walk?" It was a silly question, she knew, but Jay's wound was much more serious than Lloyd's broken ankles.

"Sure, sure," he responded, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "Just landed from thousands of feet above the ground on my feet; yes, I've never been better..."

"I'm serious!" Nya snapped. "Jay is..." her voice faltered. "Bad. Really, really bad."

"How do you mean?"

"His wound..." Her voice took a panicky edge that she fought to control. "We need to get him to help, fast."

The Green Ninja crawled over to her. He wrinkled his nose as he edged towards the fallen Ninja. "Blood stinks," he muttered. "Yeah, I can tell what's wrong. But I can't walk."

"Then what do we do?" Nya asked, falling back onto the ground, her legs crossed and her hands fiddling with the sand. "Wait here? Wait for him to die? Wait for the dragons to come back and hunt for survivors?" Her hopelessness spilled out like the sand she was lifting up and pouring back onto the ground. "Unless we get help, or go to help, Lloyd, we're dead." They were far from Ninjago City; only the outline of large, shadowing skyscrapers was visible on the horizon. No help could come from there.

The finality of the statement began to sink in. The Green Ninja stared off into the distant, his eyes clouded, while Nya laid down besides Jay's limp form, her head resting on his chest, weakly rising and falling. She closed her eyes, thinking how terrible the smell of blood was as it came to her nose.

Leah and P.I.X.A.L were dead. Jay was dying. Lloyd was injured and Nya herself was drained of all hope. Things had gone from bad to worse in less than a week.

It was nightfall before Nya woke up and saw the lights coming from across the desert. She raised her head from her boyfriend's chest – miraculously still rising and falling rhythmically, and thought she was hallucinating. But the lights kept coming: yellow with some blemish as the circular beams hit the sandy surface of the desert. It was obviously coming from a searchlight or lantern. Nya leaned over to where Lloyd was sleeping, curled up with his head on his folded hands and punched him lightly in the shoulder. The blonde haired boy glanced up.

"What?" he hissed. "It's nighttime. Is Jay - "

"Be quiet." Nya glanced again towards the light. "Someone's coming and they might not be friendly."

By now it was obviously too late to sneak away, so the three of them waited there until the spotlight was on them, staring into it like a trapped deer. Through the pale transparency, Nya could catch a glimpse of...

Several moving figures, all humanoid, and a short mast.

_Great, a flying ship. Borg should have been a bit more wary about leaving his toys around. _During and after the Nindroid invasion, Cyrus Borg's tech had been widespread over Ninjago. Some more valuable parts – helicopter parts, nindroid vehicles, and weaponry had been scattered in the badlands. Groups of scavengers came together and swept the area, looking for loot to trade and sell. With any luck, this would be one of the more decent Salvage Crews, as they were called in the city. There were some that did unsavory things to unsuspecting travelers.

"Who goes there?" A reptilian voice called through the darkness.

"Just some people trapped out in the desert," Lloyd replied, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "We could use a lift."

The sound of crunching sand and a couple sets of footsteps forced Nya to make a choice: did they attempt to warn them off, or get taken onboard the scavenger's ship?

The latter, she grudgingly decided. A fight could end Jay's life and the ship might have medical supplies.

A pale human with a wispy beard stepped into the light, followed by a shorter man wearing simple overalls and a leather vest came after, and taking the rear was a Hypnobrai with one eye crossed with scars. All were carrying an assortment of knives and pickaxes. They seemed more like pirates than a group of simple merchants, which put her more on edge.

_ Calm down, Nya. _She told herself. _It's rough out in the badlands. They probably need protection... _

With her fears squashed down for now, she met each of their gazes evenly, and didn't like the way that shorter man glanced at her. Creep, she thought.

"Well, well. A ninja – the Green Ninja, I might add – , a nice little lady, and... ooh, what happened to this poor fellow?" The first man asked. His voice was rough, but pleasant enough, and had a friendly tone.

"Thugs are bad out here," Nya told him coolly. Better he not know about the dragons, just in case. "We got him to a hospital, but they turned us out when the learned that those bandits were the ones who stabbed him. Those guys rule the region towards the east." It was true; there were gangs out there who banded together to fight of Nindroids, and now that they were gone they roamed the eastern parts of Ninjago pillaging.

"Indeed," the man said. "Well, lovely." She didn't like the way he said that, not at all. "I'm Capt'n Copper, of this humble Salvage Crew. Would ye like us to transport you to the city?"

"We'd love that, thanks." It was Lloyd who answered, much to Nya's irritation. Sure, he was Ninjago's savior and the most powerful Ninja since the First Spinjitzu Master, but sometimes he had the logic and reasoning of a six year old... which, of course, he was in reality.

"We 'ave to stop off near a port to get fuel first, but we can be back 'ere by sunrise," Copper assured them, reaching out a hand for Nya to stand. She nodded towards Lloyd.

"Help him. He's got some broken ankles." Copper narrowed his eyes at her and moved to help up Lloyd.

The captain turned to the Hypnobrai. "Cobar, get a stretcher from the hold. We've got a seriously wounded fella here." The Serpentine nodded and darted away to the ship. The shorter man that she thought was a creep came to her and graciously helped her up. His eyes were more snakelike than Cobar's, which made her more nervous than she already was. They came to the side of the ship, which was surprisingly well-kept for scavengers who usually cared more for the junk they collected than the ships they used to transport it. They climbed up an accommodation ladder and onto the deck. As they climbed, Nya caught a glimpse of the ship's name on the archboard: The _Glider's Wings_. An odd name for a ship, she thought, but put it past her.

The deck was made of a mix of wood and metal. There were several cannons tied down to the deck, even stranger for scavengers. She was more wary every moment she was aboard his vessel.

Captain Copper went out with Cobar to get Jay as blankets were given to Lloyd and Nya. She wrapped the rough cloth around her shoulders and took a perch on a crate next to the rail.

A few minutes later, the Serpentine and Captain Copper came on board, carrying the Lightning Ninja on a hover stretcher. They carried him belowdecks, with her eyes boring into their backs the whole way.

_If they do anything to him, and he dies, they will _all_ end up with knives in their backs. _

"Alright, men!" Copper bellowed as he walked up the stairs, a swagger in his walk. "Prepare to tack! I want Ninjago City astern. Kain!" He called to a man up by the wheel, on the fantail. He had a circular metal shaft to serve as a peg leg, and a mechanical eye in the left socket. "We're heading for Port Temperance!"

"Port Temperance?" Nya asked out loud, her tone incredulous. "That's nearly thirty miles away! You said that we'd be back by sunrise."

"And we shall, my dear," Copper assured her, stepping lightly towards the bow of the ship. "That'a be the closest refueling station near here. Would you prefer Dragonsmouth?" Dragonsmouth was another port, three hundred miles to the south of them. They had stopped in both Temperance and Dragonsmouth while fighting the Serpentine, and it was once a pinnacle of excellence in sailing, but now a sleazy port town.

"We'll go to Temperance," Nya conceded, glaring quickly at Lloyd. If he hadn't been so quick to accept the offer of a lift, they wouldn't have to back track nearly a day or more. Jay might get worse in that time.

One of the crew-members brought them some warm drinks in big wooden flagons: rum. This place was getting to be more and more of a pirate ship every time she looked up. She took a sip, frowning at the strong, bitter taste and settled down in the blankets, brought down with all her current woes.

* * *

By sunrise, Ninjago City had disappeared over the horizon and the ocean was visible off the bow. Nya was sitting on the same crate, gazing around the ship. A reprogrammed Nindroid was on the fantail (because the ship was not big enough for a crow's nest) with it's enhanced eyes. As she watched him like a falcon, he let out a cry.

"Port Temperance, off the bow!" he called with a flat monotone that reminded her all too much of the recent events.

Kain and Copper looked up from a somewhat heated discussion in the front of the ship. Kain's facial expression and Copper's body language showed that they were disagreeing, and probably on something major. Kain crossed his arms over his chest.

"Then prepare to moor alongside the pier. Jett, Rocks, get the ropes ready," Copper ordered, leaning on the rail on the port side of the ship. "Miss, would you and your companions like to stretch ye legs a bit in port? We'll be a'pickin' up some medical supplies for your friends and visiting the healer in town."

"I'd like that," Nya said, offering nothing but calm in her tone. She stood up and walked stiffly walked to the stairs leading belowdecks to check out the surgeon's cabin, where Jay was lain. Lloyd was leaning by the bedside, gripping his friend's hand in a comradely manner. Nya looked over the Lightning Ninja; he was breathing peacefully, not at all like the ragged and unsteady pattern of the night before. The stability of the ship and the treatment he'd gotten had to have helped.

"The doc is out," Lloyd said, looking up. His face looked drawn and pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. Nya realized that he had been crying. For P.I.X.A.L? Leah? She would pursue this later, but right now, she had to tell him they were readying to dock.

"We're pulling into port," she said quietly. "Get ready to go." He nodded grimly.

"Is Jay coming?"

"We're all going," she replied. "Come on."

* * *

**I meant to post this last night but I got super tired, then booted off my computer. So here it is. Yay. **

**Next chapter should be longer. There will be a couple of twists, blah blah. I have to do my homework now... Heheh... Um... **

**Bye! **


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